A couple who run theaters in Reidsville and Liberty placed a $1,500,003 bid on the Roanoke Rapids Theatre.
The bid is $3 above the minimum bid price for the venue which was set by Roanoke Rapids City County at $1.5 million.
Dewey and Leslie Brown of Brown Entertainment LLC also enclosed a 5 percent bid deposit of $75,000.15, city Finance Director Carmen Johnson said.
Johnson said city staff will conduct its due diligence and present its results to the council during a special meeting on November 1 at 5:30 p.m. in the Lloyd Andrews City Meeting Hall.
The Browns were present for the sealed bid opening.
https://www.rrspin.com/news/6586-owners-of-established-venues-place-bid-on-rr-theater.html#sigProId53b70ce0c2
“Obviously we’re in the theater business and after learning more about the situation and the history of the theater and the building and the business that’s been done there before we felt like we can bring in knowledge and the ability to make this theater operational the way it should be,” Mr. Brown said.
Mrs. Brown said, “We’re looking at having some bigger shows that would suit that theater. At our little smaller theaters we really push the boundaries with artists that we have so there we would want to do the same thing with acts like Emmylou Harris, Alison Krauss. We’re looking at those types of artists. It’s a beautiful venue and I think those kinds of artists would draw from all over.”
Mr. Brown said the size of the Roanoke Rapids venue would help them expand into other things “that we’ve not been able to do before because of the super facility that the theater has with the other rooms, the bigger lobby and the larger seating capacity,” and even the backstage area as well as the parking lot. “Things like that allow us to be able to expand ideas and maybe hold pageants and public speaking. There’s been a lot of things we haven’t been able to even think about before.”
The Browns have been in the music business for a long time. “I started off young as a musician and we’ve been owners of theaters now for about eight years,” Mr. Brown said.
He said nine out of 10 shows they put on are successful. “Maybe a greater number than that. Sometimes it’s not as easy to measure success by seat numbers but most of the time our shows are close to 80 percent to sold out capacity. The main thing is the people enjoy the service we provide and a place to come see a show from their favorite artist. They drive from all over.”
Their show last Friday with John Anderson in Liberty was sold out. “People had driven over 10 ½ hours to see him.”
The Browns envision drawing audiences from across the region and beyond to Roanoke Rapids. “That’s really our recipe,” Mr. Brown said. “We try to make people feel welcome and provide a nice place for them to come to. They really want to see that favorite musician or attraction that they’re just a really big fan of. We just provide a place for that to happen.”
Mrs. Brown said it was faith that drove them to place the bid. “I have a lot of faith. I think it’s a beautiful facility. When we took a look at it a month ago we were just checking it out, looking around and I really feel like God has led us honestly to this vision.”
Despite an upset bid period, Mrs. Brown said, “We work with a lot of bigger agencies for our theaters now that represent a lot of bigger artists. You book usually a year ahead. We’ve already looked at dates for ‘23 and have soft holds on some dates pending how things go through.”
Said Mr. Brown: “We’ve already got the ball rolling.”
